Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes

By Dawn Perlmutter

The legalities of particular religious practices depend on many factors, such as the type of occult or religious activity, the current laws, and the intention of the individual practitioner. Written by the director of the Institute for the Research of Organized and Ritual Violence, Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes is the first complete resource to assist in crime scene identification, criminal investigation, and prosecution of religious terrorism and occult crime. It analyzes occult and religious terrorist practices from each group's theological perspective to help you understand traditional and contemporary occult groups and domestic and international terrorist religions, demarcate legal religious practice from criminal activity, and acquire techniques specific to occult and terrorist religion crime scene investigation.

Dawn Perlmutter appeared in an episode of "On the Case with Paula Zahn" (Investigation Discovery Channel)on Sunday, January 8, 2012. She consulted on a 24-year-old cold case homicide that involved the ritualistic murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in the sacristy of a chapel on Easter Saturday, 1980 in Toledo, Ohio. This case involved unusual symbolic and forensic evidence. The episode will be re-run on January 14.

She was also quoted in a January 12, 2012 NPR article about the U.S. military's desecration of the corpses of Taliban fighters.

Dawn Perlmutter was interviewed by Robert Siegel August 29, 2014 on National Public Radio's All Things Considered in a segment about beheading as a modern warfare tactic.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849310342
• ISBN13: 9780849310348
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 453 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Academic, Modern Treatment of Sacred Violence

I've just finished my first reading of Dr. Perlmutter's fresh work. The text is offered with the conviction that "understanding the religious beliefs, ethics and ritual practices of unfamiliar religions is imperative to preventing future acts of violence." I sense my socio-cultural paradigm has shifted since reading this book. And I hope that my personal baby-steps toward a more careful handling of the involved issues can serve to further future prevention of violence in some way. While it is true that this book was written by a woman who is principally an academic, it's also true the research that went into it involved a great deal of field work and contact with law enforcement, victims and true believers themselves. Groups covered include various millenial religions, domestic terrorism groups (many of which mix component forms of Christian/pagan religious expression with extreme racial theories), international terrorist groups with an emphasis on violent Islamic groups, various Satanist groups, Vampirism, and syncretic belief systems such as Santeria and Voodoo. Dr. Perlmutter then addresses various intelligence strategies for maximizing the public benefit of an informed investigative approach. The book is also a wealth of resources for gaining additional information. This dynamic field of study is difficult to set in print as though it were some sort of unchanging holy text, and the author acknowledges ongoing development. The book is not alarmist, but does raise concerns. Crimes incidental to the practice of ritual violence covered in the book range from mild trespassing and littering issues through threats and assaults to violent crimes against persons including homicide. The cases are well-documented and photographs and illustrations are plentiful. This is not a coffee-table book; the photographs and symbols (germane to the topic, always) can be unpleasant. While there are those who find any expression of intolerance to be small-minded, social intolerance of crime - especially violent crime - is both sensible and lawful. One man's xenophobia is another man's kidnapping and cannibalism. While the author's initial area of academic expertise was art symbolism and religious art, she has become an expert in the related field of physical evidence of ritual violence. For many practitioners of violent religious expression I suppose, their holy places are superior to the best available sacred art. Her book has grown out of her law enforcement consulting experiences, not the other way around. And, as a law enforcement professional, I'm glad she published it.

Excellent, Comprehensive & Timely Book

Dr. Perlmutter provides a remarkably complete volume on the subject of ritualisitc crime & religious terrorism. Her work is most current and is interesting for many audiences - criminal investigators, students, scholars and those who wish to read for knowledge. The book is enlightening and alarming.